Grapevine Tales
by PinkGray
Summary: Collection of one-shots. Various pairings. 06 - SasuSaku.   She had always intrigued him, but Sasuke didn't know just how deep this infatuation would take him. Didn't know until he was way in over his head that this was exactly what he needed. AU.
1. kakasaku: lifeboats in water

**title: **lifeboats in water**  
><strong>**prompts:** 06. the space between dream and reality & 363. listless winter & weather: 07. storm  
><strong>pairing:<strong> hatake kakashi & haruno sakura  
><strong>word count: <strong>4000  
><strong>summary:<strong> Naive and young, Sakura is unable to understand the burdens of reality. Kakashi, however, bears the full brunt of this burden and without her - his lifeboat - slowly, he drowns.

_a/n:_ _This anthology will be reserved for random one-shots I have written for LJ challenge communities. Various parings, but most likely ItaSaku or KakaSaku. Essentially, this is a garbage dump. The total number of installments is undetermined, new ficlets will be added sporadically. Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>"Thank you, dear."<p>

Sakura offered the elder woman a sweet smile, "No problem, Aiko-san! Take care and keep warm!"

"Of course, Sakura-san. I'll see you in a week's time?"

"Definitely!"

Before donning her creamy shawl-like hooded cloak, Sakura gathered the elder woman up in a heartfelt hug. Aiko, though already in her mid-eighties returned the gesture with as much fervour as if she were twenty years younger. "Oh, before I forget, can you give his to Hanako? I usually give it to Hiro, but I forgot today."

Sakura took the basket, carefully wrapping the top tightly. "Of course. I was going to visit Hanako-san next anyways."

Aiko sighed then, and took Sakura's calloused hands into her own, patting them lightly. "Don't overwork yourself, dear. You shouldn't come on days like this."

"Don't worry," Sakura smiled, more at the motherly tone than the woman's words. "I'm almost done my rounds for today."

With a nod, Aiko let Sakura go. "You better hurry then," she said with a worried glance out the window. "It's getting dark fast."

"I'll make it," Sakura replied. In one swift motion, the standard issue winter-jounin coat was zipped up tightly, and the cloak over everything, including the little homemade basket. As she stepped into her boots, she waved through her gloved fingers and stepped out the door.

Almost immediately, she wanted to shrivel into herself. Fear for Aiko's health had her slamming the door shut behind her as promptly as possible, and what little warmth had seeped out dissipated immediately. In the hour she had spent at Aiko's house, the snow had accumulated, growing from just drowning her mid-calf to her knee. It was at times like these that she missed her hometown the most. Before this, she had _loved_ snow. It had been exotic, something the usual patterns of her life didn't offer. Konoha, at the heart of the tropics, snowed once in a blue moon.

But now, there was nothing more she wanted than the comfort of her hot, sometimes stuffy town. And if she _never_ saw snow again, she'd be perfectly content. But none of that was important at the moment – only one thing preoccupied her mind, and it was Hanako-san's home. Or at least, the warmth the snug little cottage promised. Sakura squinted as another wave of the violent storm threatened to uproot her from the ground; a difficult feat, she mused sourly, as her feet were plunged rather firmly into the quickly amounting snow.

It didn't surprise her that for the seven minutes it took her to travel from Point A to B, she didn't see a single soul. She couldn't deny that Hiroshi was a sweet little town with its own flair. In fact, she had been loving every moment of her stay ever since her arrival three months back. Then, rather abruptly, she'd been rudely awakened by the reality of her mission. No wonder the village had been in desperate need of a shinobi with medical abilities. Once the storms hit, only two types of people ventured out onto the roads. They were either fearless of the cold, frostbite and all that accompanied it, or they were like Sakura, unknowingly duped into the job.

Hiro, the sweet eighteen year old errand boy was the only one that was crazy enough to fall into the former category. Sakura wondered briefly if he was okay – fearless as his teenage hormones had allowed him to be, he was still only a civilian. Even Sakura felt like hiding in ten layers of duvets at the moment, and she was using a modified jutsu to keep herself insulated. Hiro however, was pushed from her mind when Hanako's cottage came into view. Sakura nearly cried out at the sight, but, realizing the energy was better spent on a sprint to the house, decided on the latter instead.

Hanako, bless her soul, had been expecting Sakura's visit, and was hovering near the door when Sakura rapped on the door once. The old lady smiled as she ushered the frozen girl into her home, the door slamming shut behind them.

"Sakura! Poor darling, you must be freezing."

"It's not that bad," Sakura laughed as she de-robed. "My cloak is well insulated."

"Insulated or not dear, it's still just a cloak."

Sakura could not agree more, but there was no sense in worrying the old woman. Instead, she handed the basket over. Despite her best efforts, the basket had suffered some damage in the storm, and Sakura could only smile sheepishly as she apologized. Hanako waved away her apologies as nonsense.

"While you're here, Sakura, have a bite to eat," Hanako offered, "Hiro's still here, eating in the kitchen."

At this, the two women rolled their eyes. They wandered into the kitchen a moment later, and upon seeing Sakura, Hiro lit up a hundred watts.

"Sakura-chan!" he exclaimed. "I knew if I stalled here long enough, I'd get to see you today."

The cheesy grin he wore was contagious, as Sakura couldn't resist the urge to laugh at his boyish charm. "I'm sure Hanako-san appreciated your company."

"Of course, dear. Without Hiro I'd never finish all this food in the house," Hanako replied easily. "But then of course, without Hiro, I wouldn't have to buy all this food in the first place."

Hiro had the decency to feign embarrassment, "It's because you're so wonderful, Hanako-san. Couldn't imagine a day without you."

"Oh, you little charmer," Hanako teased. By this time, the three were comfortably settled at the cozy sit-in table in the kitchen, Hanako and Hiro engaged in light conversation, and Sakura bringing out the necessary medical supplies.

In less than twenty minutes, Hanako's weekly check-up was finished, and Sakura joined in on the conversation, casually sipping her hot cocoa.

"Oh," Hiro blinked suddenly. "The storm's letting up a little."

As if on cue, a solitary beam shot through the window as the sun struggled through the storm clouds. Hiro was right – though the storm continued to rage outside, the sun had come out, and Sakura could now see Hanako's neighbour's house. Sakura had been in the town long enough to know that it was now or never. Any moment, without any warning, the storm could start again, more furious than ever.

Sakura nodded at Hiro, who started to rise. "Thank you for the food, Hanako-san," Sakura started, rising as well.

"You know you're always welcome in my house," Hanako breezed, walking alongside the young duo to the entrance.

As they started to pull on their winter gear, Sakura couldn't help but laugh at the mountain of layers Hiro was putting on. "How do you manage to move in that?" Sakura asked lightly. "You're going to look like a ball by the time you're done."

Hiro eyed her solitary cloak and jounin vest warily. "You're crazy to just move outside in that. Even if you are a shinobi."

Sakura shook her head as she moved to stop him from putting on a fourth layer. "Here," she motioned for him to be still as she passed her other hand over his cloak. The chakra that passed through was visible only momentarily before she handed the now-insulated cloak back to him.

"The jutsu is only temporary. Next time I see you I'll re-insulate it."

Hiro still seemed a bit skeptical as they bid goodbye to Hanako, who had also put on a coat for the brief moment she would be exposed to the cold. As soon as they stepped out into the now thigh-high snow, Hiro winced on instinct. However a moment later he relaxed when he realized that he was _not_ becoming hypothermic.

"Wow," he muttered. "Things like this make me wish that I could've been a shinobi, too."

Sakura chuckled, but the sound was lost to the howling wind. Unfortunately for the duo, the weather had started to escalate once more. For Sakura, this wasn't much of a problem, as Hanako's house was only a two minute walk away. It was the reason she was always the end of Sakura's weekly medical rounds. Hiro however, lived on the opposite side of town and would have to walk at least another twenty minutes in normal weather – Sakura didn't know how long it would take him in this blubbering storm. By the time they reached Sakura's quaint little cottage, the storm had returned to its previous glory, and was perhaps even more furious than before.

Even with the insulated cloak and three layers under it, Sakura could see that Hiro was clearly struggling to stay warm. With a quiet sigh she ushered the eighteen year old into her home, and he wasted no time in entering. It wasn't as if she didn't enjoy Hiro's company, or objected to keeping his frostbite at bay, but she had rather looked forward to an afternoon by herself after a long day. She was busy all day long, every single day in this town – she had no idea how they had survived without her before – and by Sunday, she was exhausted. Sunday afternoons were the only times she had to herself to think, relax and just _be_.

But Hiro was here, and by the looks of the storm, here to stay for a while. While Sakura had been thinking, she had also gone over to the side of her house to grab some firewood to replenish her dwindling supply. She had forgotten to bring some in this morning, when the storm was still relatively calm, and was now paying the bitter price for it. Sakura gritted her teeth through it though as she dug through the snow to retrieve a frozen armful. By the time she was back in the warmth of her home, Hiro had already taken off his three layers.

Sakura froze immediately upon entering.

There was a third presence in the room. It was no stranger, for her body had recognized his signature immediately, and for some reason, that irked her. Because of how accustomed she had been to him, she had failed to notice his presence until he was merely a few feet away. Their long absence from each other seemed to have dulled nothing, and that angered her even more. With one glance at Hiro, it was clear that he had yet to notice anything.

"Put these by the fire, won't you?" Sakura said as she handed the pile to Hiro. The poor boy staggered a bit under the weight, but managed to do so nonetheless. With Hiro preoccupied, Sakura now turned towards her left, where the kitchen was.

"What are you doing here?"

She didn't need to turn around to know that Hiro probably turned to look at her from his spot in the living room, to her right. She was proved right when Hiro gave a little yelp when Kakashi stepped out of the shadows and into sight. He had not changed at all in the five months they had not seen each other. While she had only exiled herself here for three, he had been conspicuously absent from her life in Konoha for two before that.

The memory of his negligence made her heart ache.

Then he smiled under his mask, the only evidence of it the ever-so-familiar eye twinkle. "I was passing through the area when this rather abrasive storm hit. So I thought I'd stop by and say hello to my favourite girl."

_Liar_, she wanted to hiss. _Liar, liar, liar, liar, liar_.

But she said none of that, remembering that Hiro was still in the room. Instead, she settled for a calm "okay."

By this time, Hiro had returned from his task, and was now peering curiously at the man. It was clear that he was a ninja, if not by his graceful stance then definitely by the vest he donned. It was identical to Sakura's, Hiro noted. The man however, seemed to have no interest in Hiro, as his gaze was fixed entirely on the pink-haired woman.

His next words held none of the cheerful nonchalance as the words before it had. "When are you going to stop this nonsense and come home?"

"It's not nonsense, Kakashi."

"You're wasting your abilities here."

"Perhaps to you, saving lives is a waste," Sakura replied easily, but the bite was unmistakable. "But I happen to cherish what I do."

"You know what I mean."

At this harmless line, Sakura bristled with anger and snapped. "No, I _don't_ know what you mean. I _never_ know what you mean, Kakashi, and that's the problem."

"No, Sakura. The problem is you never _ask_. If you asked me, I'd gladly tell you."

"Would you though, would you _really_ tell me?" Sakura argued, exasperated. "That's the thing. You think you would, but ultimately, you wouldn't. You're too closed off to even give me a chance. How many years have I known you, and what do I actually know about you? _Nothing_!"

"Again, you've never asked."

"I have, Kakashi. You've just been too preoccupied to notice," she whispered.

Hiro, god knows why, thought that this would be the opportune moment to interrupt. "Err, Sakura-chan, perhaps I should get going...the storm's letting up again."

But his words held no power over either shinobi, and even as he moved to get dressed and out the door, neither moved from their position.

It was a while before either spoke again.

"Why are you _really_ here, Kakashi?"And with that phrase, all the grievances of the past five months came out as if some floodgate had broken. She had no more will within her to keep it in anymore, to pretend to be a warrior in ways that she simply wasn't. "_You_ left. You have no right to just come back like this. I'm not your toy."

The look in his eye spoke bounds, screamed _I know_, but it simply wasn't enough. It didn't explain anything. In the end, all he chose to say was, "I'm sorry."

Sakura sniffed. "You should be."

"Not for leaving," he continued. "I'm sorry that things have progressed to this. I'm sorry that this is where we are."

"Not for leaving?" Sakura echoed. _Not for shattering my heart?_

"It was necessary. You were too...naive. Naive about this, naive about everything," he said. "But you've grown, Sakura."

She wanted to scream _how could you call me naive_?, but realized it would prove him right exactly. In truth, she agreed. She saw now that she had been naive, barely twenty years old, falling head over heels with a man fourteen years her senior, and her teacher no less. The worst was that she had expected everything to be perfect, had expected in her mind's theatre that everything would work out like a shinobi fairytale. It had been, in the beginning, the first few months, but _that _wasn't real, the part that would last. _She_ knew all this, yet she could not properly forgive him for using her so unkindly.

Finally, she nodded. "I see."

If he had been expecting immediate absolution, then he was just as naive as he gave her credit for. He saw this, too, and looked away. "It's good that you understand."

She nodded, and then realized that at this point in their relationship, there simply wasn't anything more to say. He realized this too after a moment's pause, when he started to move past her. Sakura said nothing as she watched him pull on his cloak, his boots, and his gloves. She said nothing even as he opened the door, stepped outside and disappeared.

Even though she said nothing, she would never forget the three words he whispered just before disappearing.

"Be happy, Sakura."

* * *

><p><em>Some months later.<em>

"Sakura!" Ino looked up, surprised to see her best friend. "When did you get back?"

"Earlier today," Sakura replied, bunkering down on the stool before the register. "How's the family?"

Ino rolled her eyes. "Loud and lazy, as usual. Awful combination, if you ask me," she said as she punched in a few more numbers. "How was the mission?"

Sakura shrugged. "Nothing too special, the usual with those idiots."

Ino let out a wistful sigh. "I kind of miss that life, you know?"

"You're good here though," Sakura cooed. "This life suits you. Plus, in your condition..." Sakura waved generally at Ino's noticeably round stomach.

"It just gets so damn _boring_ sometimes. I need more excitement."

"You're married to Shikamaru," Sakura's eyes twinkled. "I'm sure you guys do a lot of exciting things. Shogi, for example."

Ino whacked her best friend across the arm and rolled her eyes simultaneously. But too soon she sobered up, and her eyes softened, a solemn look filling her normally vibrant orbs. "And you, Sakura? How are you doing?"

The usual "I'm fine" was on the tip of Sakura's tongue when she registered Ino's serious expression. Sakura looked away then, knowing that the unimpressive answer she gave most curious friends these days would not work with the blonde. After a moment, she shrugged gently. "I'm dealing."

"You deserve better than to just _deal_, Sakura," Ino chastised softly. "It's time to move on."

"I'm trying."

Ino clucked her sympathies as she patted Sakura gently. "I know you'll be fine, sweetie, but I hate seeing you like this."

Sakura looked entirely unconvinced as she agreed.

* * *

><p>Sakura was sure she was seeing things when she saw the ghostly figure hovering at the entrance to her apartment complex. Even if he wasn't an apparition of her overworked mind, she simply had no energy to deal with this now. She had spent the last four hours of her life locked away in the operating room, and was down to her last bits of energy. It was amazing that she hadn't already collapsed, and if it weren't for the fact that she had recently discarded the old couch in her office, she would've already been blissfully asleep.<p>

As Sakura passed him, she did her best to ignore his existence. It didn't help one bit that he followed her up the steps silently, and hovered behind her as she fumbled with the lock. By the time the door opened, she was exasperated and exhausted enough to let the door hang open after her entrance. As quietly as before, he slipped in behind her, closing the door with a mute _click_. They continued like this for the next few minutes; she ignoring his presence, and he shadowing her silently around the apartment. As usual, she was the first to bristle and break.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. The nauseous sense of déjà vu that hit her then was unavoidable, and she fought hard not to look away. _I will not be weak and childish now_, she determined.

He shrugged lightly. "I was in the area."

"At two forty in the morning?"

Kakashi answered with a nod, as infuriatingly nonchalant as he always was. And then the conversation reached the ultimate standstill. There was so much to be said, so much that had gone unsaid, unacknowledged and unwarranted in the past year that neither knew what to say or do. In all honesty, Sakura wanted nothing more than to slap him. However, as the last of her control had yet to leave her, she instead settled for a hard glare before turning to head for her bedroom.

Sakura didn't know whether to be exasperated or pleased that he started following her again. It was definitely the former however, that she felt once she started to change and he still showed no signs of departing or doing _anything_ at all. Clad in only her sports bra and pants, Sakura wheeled around to face him, hands poised on her hips. "Okay Kakashi. _Talk_. This is getting ridiculous."

Kakashi seemed to weigh this for a moment, leaning casually against the wall as if he belonged there. _And he did belong there_, Sakura thought with a pang of all the times he had stood exactly like that. Unexpectedly he asked, "Are you ready for this?"

"I don't think that's _my_ question to answer, Kakashi."

He seemed to ponder this for a moment before he silently acquiesced. When the same maddening silence claimed them once more, Sakura proceeded to pad around her room, finishing the last few necessities before going to bed. By the time she had brushed her teeth, washed her face (while silently blanching at the dark circles under her eyes), and changed into her rather unimpressive pyjamas, he was still standing there, pondering. When he finally spoke, it was as if he didn't notice that she had already crawled into bed, halfway to sleep.

"Why aren't you with anyone?"

Sakura blinked up at him through half-lidded eyes. "The person I want to be with isn't available."

"And if he was?"

Sakura shifted under her duvet for a better view. "But he _isn't_. But to humour you – it wouldn't really matter." She paused, gaze hardening and softening at the same time. "You of all people should know that nothing's so simple."

She hardly noticed when he finally moved, wandering slowly until he finally dropped down at the foot of her bed. The slight shift in weight, of _his_ weight was painfully familiar. She tried her best to hide the wave of nostalgia. Then, "I'm sorry."

Sakura's throat tightened. "For?"

"Assuming." He tilted his gaze away from her, to the large window. The November air was pushing through, and the sheer curtains that Sai had installed the year prior billowed without consequence against the glass. Sakura watched as a strand of his impossible silver hair fall over his shoulder, and it was all she could do not to reach out. She missed him, that much she couldn't deny. She missed waking up in his embrace, she missed running her hands through his unruly hair.

_It's different now_, she reminded herself.

"But," he continued, "Old habits die hard."

And before she could protest, react or do anything at all, he was suddenly near her, face inches away from her own. "I _assumed_ you would understand," he said, placing a feathery kiss on her forehead. "I _assumed_ that you _needed_ to understand," a kiss on the cheek this time, freezing Sakura like the cold winter storm, "And I _assumed_ that we'd reach that point, eventually."

He stopped just short of her lips, his eyes locked with hers. Sometime during this exchange, his mask had fallen, and Sakura was breathless at the sight of him. She suspected that she would never tire of it, of his deliciously defined jaw. "All you ever needed to do was say _I understand_."

A year or so ago, she wouldn't have understood. It was too cryptic, too out there for her naive, inexperienced heart to grasp. _Happily ever after_ were the words she had wanted to understand back then. But now she saw it, the reality that had been plaguing his jaded mind. For months she detested him, cried for him and yearned for her fairytale. But it was obvious to her now, the thing he had needed her to so desperately understand. Reality wasn't perfect, wasn't her fairytale. Reality was a risk and burden that they needed to share, was something that would have drowned Kakashi on his own.

Still breathless and paralyzed with fear of the future, she reached up to caress his beautifully sculpted face. For the first time, she could see the raw turbulence of emotions within his normally marble eyes.

"I understand," she breathed.

Without a moment's hesitation, he crushed her into his embrace. Her salty tears left tiny puddles on his shirt, but they were nothing, for he could feel the silhouette of her smile against him. They stayed like that, she tucked into the crook of his neck, he breathing in the scent of soft lavender, until time was but a trifle to be forgotten.

Like this, they could make up for the stupidity of the past, and drift on into the uncertainty of the future, understanding what they could, and pardoning all else.

* * *

><p><em>fin<em>


	2. nejisaku: the art of getting by

**title: **the art of getting by  
><strong>pairing: <strong>hyuuga neji & haruno sakura  
><strong>word count: <strong>5184  
><strong>prompts: <strong>199. childhood's end & 06. head in the clouds & angst: 09. change

**summary:** Left behind by the changes that life inevitably brings, Sakura falls, so deep and sorrowfully that even Neji, who tries his damnest to catch her, fears nothing will ever be alright again.

* * *

><p>A river that flows too wide will never have a crossing point, she muses to herself.<p>

It is a wry sort of realization, but it's natural now, for her to feel this way. She doesn't even think twice when something of the sort crosses her mind, for time has changed her. Time itself, she thinks, is so unforgiving that she may have nothing but it to blame in the end. Here, she wonders momentarily what the end will be like. Despite the well trampled path that is her life, with the rainbow of different footprints and plethora of different people, she can't help but believe that in the end, her road will be empty.

"Is it okay like this?" he had asked one day before, when the luminance from the moon and sun no longer had room for her under their guidance. Her smiles had faltered slightly at his words, but she had nodded, a weak yes to the assurance he had been seeking.

The small smile she wears plays nostalgically on her lips at the fond memory. It is one of the few fond memories she has allowed herself to keep. Everything else is too much, too painful and too real. Memories, she has learned, are but an imitation of a pseudo-reality she is no longer allowed to have. The feeling of being so close, so within reach of something she so desperately wants is too heartbreaking. It is no surprise then, that she has chosen to forget. Both of them know however, that forgetting is another dream well out of her reach – she will never _truly _forget. The best she can do is pretend, and it's all she has left.

* * *

><p>"Eh?" Naruto blinks, the lights blinding him momentarily. "Where's Sakura-chan?"<p>

"Perhaps she was tired and went home?" Karin offers kindly, a quizzical smile playing on her lips. There is no longer any hostility between the two women who have been closest to the last living Uchiha's heart. The woman with dark frames adorning her pretty face laughs softly at something her man says to his best friend, and all talk about the blossom is forgotten.

"So," the blonde sitting comfortably beside them announces suddenly, full of a million smiles. "We're all on for my party tomorrow, right? You better all show up – you too, Sasuke!" Ino jabs him in the arm, and adds with a sly wink, "For Karin's sake, you better show up."

Her comment is met with laughter all around the table, and Naruto chimes in, "Yeah, yeah, Ino. You've told us, warned us, and threatened us. I don't think any of us are brave enough to _not_ show up."

At this, a small huff escapes her lips, "Just making sure!" With her arms crossed delicately across her rather large bosom, she mutters quietly, "and we all know what a misogynist Sasuke is. I don't want him to be the reason two people are missing from my party!"

Another round of bellowing laughter meets her muttered comment, and in front of them, Ayame smiles fondly at the picturesque sextet sharing the prime of their lives together, enjoying everything amidst their threatening lifestyle. But when a typical Naruto-style stupid comment floats not-so-delicately to her ears, the deep seated feeling of something missing tugs at the woman's heart. And it's only then that she realizes, blending in the beautiful puddle of colours before her, one is missing.

The one that should've stood out as the brightest of all, guiding them all under the warmth of her colour - somewhere along the line, her colours had faded into the dim of the background. And perhaps it was a revelation, but Ayame, watching the interactions of the beaming sextet just radiating their current state of bliss, couldn't help the sorrow welling up inside her, tucked neatly at the very base of her heart.

With Karin's mature, loving shades of a darker cherry, and the twin blonde lights of their group, the delicate colors of cerise and coral had slowly, but surely been washed out to leave room for something more, something new. Somewhere along the way, the beautiful, kind-hearted woman had been left behind in the turmoil, lost to the people and events passing by.

So when Ayame turns back to study the still-beaming shinobi, it is with some unexplained sorrow tugging at her lips. The inexplicable joy at seeing such happiness bliss reflected in others is still present, but the realization that there is no longer the same for Haruno Sakura is something that will sit with her forever.

Because whatever they have now, the pretty girl is no longer privy to. Somewhere along the way, she has been replaced, until there is simply no longer any room for her.

With a bittersweet smile, she prays for Sakura's happiness.

* * *

><p>"Just the two of us?" Neji asks unwillingly.<p>

Before him, Tsunade raises an eyebrow at the question. It is more than uncharacteristic for him, and not for the first time in his life, the soon-to-be Hyuuga patriarch is grateful for the delicate porcelain mask shielding his features. At the pointed look on the Hokage's face, even he is unable to school away the embarrassed almost-blush that is brushing across his cheeks.

With a small bow to the woman, Neji turns to leave the room.

"Oh, Neji?" her voice drifts over from her wooden-throne, and he nearly cringes at the saccharine tone. "You won't mind going over to brief her, right?"

Pause. "Of course not, Hokage-sama."

"Good," she nods, and he knows he is dismissed. Neji offers another bow, and slips out before she can think up of another stupid task. Only when he is sure he is out of sight does he let out a breath. If there had been any doubt before, he is absolutely sure now that their revered Godaime has a nasty streak of sadism within her. She knows. She _must_ know, for her to so deliberately assign such a mission as a duet. Of course the mission is accomplishable with only two. But it makes less than no sense to assign two when three, and perhaps even four will be a much better fit. _Especially_ since it involves her. The relationship, if it can even be called such, that he shares with Haruno Sakura can be summed up with no more than one word: complicated. She is neither here nor there any longer – her heart, he suspects, has been whisked away long before his eyes had even taken her in.

A sigh, unnoticed even to Neji, escapes his parted lips as he steps through the doors and into the blearing summer sun. It _would_ be a relief to get out of Konoha to a colder climate right now, he muses. Surely, they can both do with a little cool air and wind chill, to clear their minds at the very. Neji offers the bored-looking Izumo a small nod before heading in the hospital's direction. There are only a few places that Haruno Sakura can be found these days: the hospital, Training Ground Six (_-not three, he had asked once, and had been very sorry indeed at the sorrowed look that flirted with her features)_, and the memorial. The hospital, he muses, is probably his best guess at the moment.

As he nears the looming building, a small patch of marigolds growing comfortable under the guidance of a large tree catches his eyes. It is odd, he thinks, for such a small amount of flowers to be growing in such a secluded places, for nothing but the huge tree to surround its fragile petals with. He shrugs, thinking nothing more of the serendipitous beauty as he steps into the wonderfully air-conditioned building. The receptionist, completely flushed in the face despite her tall glass of iced coffee, seems to flush a deeper shade at his entrance.

"Is Sakura here?" he demands quietly, a deep, humble baritone despite its power.

"Y-yes!" she nods vigorously as she digs out an ill-used book. "She should be in room 459 right now."

"Thank you," Neji nods before swivelling around and setting off.

The giggled whispers of the young, infatuated girl blows by his ears as he stalks past, but it is nothing new to him. Life is fickle like that; in a few day's time, a more handsome, stronger enigma will catch her eye, and the joy and whatever else she would have bestowed on him will disappear like nothing at all. When he reaches room 459, he offers one brisk knock, notes the patient's name on the small sign, and strides in. True to the receptionist's word, Sakura is diligently scribbling away on the chart of the sleeping patient. Though she does not look up, he knows she senses him.

He waits for her to acknowledge him, and when she does, he notes with a slight pang that she looks too tired. More tired than the last time they had seen each other, and definitely more tired than she should be.

"Hi, Neji," she says, the fatigue barely hidden in her voice. "What're you doing here?"

"Mission," he replies, handing her a sealed scroll. "Special orders from the Hokage. We leave tomorrow at 6."

"Oh?" she arches a brow.

He nods back. "You should take the rest of the day off. It's going to be a long mission."

She is about to protest when she sees the look on his face. The words die on her tongue as she nods back, shrugging an okay. They stand awkwardly for a moment before he says bye and leaves. Sakura watches his back until she can no longer see his figure down the hallway before she follows.

Inwardly, she is pleased at this development. In her momentary mirth, she doesn't realize how long it has been since the last time she has been this close to being _happy._

* * *

><p><em>Three weeks later<em>.

Sakura hums as she washes the last of the cloth, and hangs it with the rest to dry. Outside the window just above the sink, new flakes fall atop the snow already resting on the ledge. It is a pretty picture, and is one that lightens her mood every time she catches sight of it. Beyond the flakes is a scene she has already memorized, of hundred year old trees that she is unable to put names to. She has always thought herself to be a people-person, but here, living in seclusion, she finds that it suits her. A change of perspective – a _welcome_ change of perspective.

"How're you feeling?" Sakura asks lightly over her shoulder, without looking. She hears some shuffles behind her, and a ruffle of the duvet before Neji's muffled voice wafts over.

"Better."

This time she does turn, and she studies him from her place by the sink, with her steaming mug of ginger tea. He doesn't look better at all, she notes sourly, but lets his lie slide. It was a redundant question on her part, anyways. After a moment, Neji pushes himself up into a sitting position after a slight struggle, and watches her with amusement in his light eyes. He seems to mull over something, before he murmurs with a small, playful smile, "I want to eat steak tonight."

Sakura rolls her eyes. "You know I can't cook steak in this kitchen." As if to reinforce her point, she gestures generally around the kitchen. He chuckles in reply, knowing the truth of her words. The cottage they are currently camped out in is rather unfortunate looking from the outside and a size-perspective. In truth, it is less of a cottage than a little shed-cabin, as it has little more than a small kitchenette, table for two, washroom, and bed. Walls apparently, in addition to space, are two things the builders of this cabin had not known of, as there are none of either in the living area. But despite it, in the few days the two have already spent there, there is no word that could better describe it than _cozy_.

Sakura pads over lightly to the bed, leaving her tea in the kitchen. She counts to seven with amusement, the number of strides it takes for her to traverse the width of the cabin. Dropping softly onto the bed next to Neji, she sighs contentedly. "Let's nap, okay?"

She doesn't wait for an answer, for she knows he will agree.

* * *

><p>In another week, Neji is but a few trifle injuries away from full functionality.<p>

Sakura is pleased with her work as she watches him go through a series of taijutsu movements. Though he is bundled up to a ridiculous extent – oversized scarf, gloves, jacket and her favourite, a hat – he is still graceful in his movements. With the snow falling around him gently, Sakura feels as if she's watching a moving picture. Sitting on the rustic bench outside their temporary home with a cup of hot cocoa, she laughs when he sneezes delicately, and laughs all the more when he sends a glare her way.

After thirty more minutes however, she feels she has indulged his restlessness enough, especially as she feels the temperature drops. She gets up to retire back into the cabin, and gestures for him to do the same. Neji has never been a _good_ patient, yet never the worst – but here, in seclusion, he has been better than she has ever seen him. Therefore he only hesitates for a moment, squeezes in a few more jabs, before following suite.

The warmth hits him immediately, and it's gratifying. But still he huffs a few warm breaths on his cold fingers, but Sakura is already there, a small towel and extra cup of cocoa on hand. Neji ignores her expectant look as he takes the towel and dries off before taking the cocoa. By some sort of unspoken consent, both make their way to the small round table, plop down, and look outside, and at each other.

Sakura is the first to break their silence. "You'll be well enough to travel in a few more days," she pauses, twirls her cocoa. "Maybe a week. The road back is long, hard and cold. I don't want you getting sick on the way back."

He stares at her, long and hard. They both know his immune system is well enough to fight off the cold. In fact, judging by his feel of his returning strength, he would say one more day here is enough. But instead, he nods, "A week's fine."

Sakura nods absently. "I've already told shishou."

Neji turns his stare on her, and studies her, _really_ studies her for the first time in weeks. To his pleasure, she looks well, better than he remembers seeing her for the past year. There is a slight flush of colour in her cheeks, and a small, unconscious smile plays on her lips. When she catches him staring, she flushes a deeper rouge, but her smile widens. "What're you looking at, Hyuuga?"

"Your face."

"Why, is there something on it? Leftovers of your horrendous attempt to cook, perhaps?" she teases.

"I think that was the best meal we've had since coming here."

She looks defiant for a moment, before acquiescing with a little laugh, "I think I agree." She turns her gaze out the window, still smiling. "I like it here. It's really…peaceful."

"I know," he murmurs. "It's different."

Suddenly, he feels a ridiculous urge to set everything straight. He locks eyes with her, his pearly gaze piercing her turbulent emeralds. She must see in them his intent, his crazy urge to cross the one taboo they've silently agreed never to do, for her smile drops. She tenses as well, and seems to hasten to scramble for a topic to change to. Anything but this.

"I think I'll make a mango salad for din-"

"Sakura," Neji says quietly. When she doesn't stop rambling, he repeats her name, stronger this time. She stops, but the happiness has evaporated from her eyes, face, person.

"Have you forgotten?"

It is cryptic, general, otherwise harmless questions, but she bristles. "No."

He nods. It is the right answer. Anything else is a lie, and kami knows the only thing they do not need anymore is another lie. "And have you accepted?"

The "no" is set to roll off her tongue when she hesitates, still gazing deep into his eyes. Then she starts to think, _really_ think, for the first time since everything began.

Two years ago, Sasuke returns to the village, victorious and happy. Everything he's ever sacrificed for has been achieved, and for the first time in thirteen years, he's weightless. Stress-free. Problem-free. Naruto is ecstatic, as is Sakura and Kakashi. In fact, every one of their friends is over the moon, because it signals a return to normalcy, whatever that may be. At first, Sakura is sure of that, too. Though she can no longer claim to love Sasuke in the same childish fashion, she still considers Team Seven family. And now that Sasuke has returned, she believes her family to be whole once more.

Sakura, Naruto, Kakashi, Sai, and Sasuke. It's perfect in her mind.

Then, the reality that Sasuke is no longer just Sasuke sinks in. To be more precise, Sasuke is no longer _her_ Team 7's Sasuke. He is still Naruto's Sasuke, he is still Kakashi's Sasuke, but he is also _Karin's_ Sasuke. That, in Sakura's mind, is the impossibility of coexistence. She tries to fight the impossibility though – really, she tries. She tries to make Team Seven a sextet, tries to make Karin a real part just as she made Sai a part. But it's futile, because she realizes soon enough that Karin already fits into the puzzle perfectly.

Two months after that, Naruto and Hinata finally have the wedding they have been stalling for months to have. Naruto had insisted that Sasuke must be there, and so the wedding had waited. Now that Sasuke is here, the wedding proceeds with glee, and Naruto officially becomes Hinata's man. Sakura is genuinely happy for the pair – she has never seen the blond so surrounded by love, and that knowledge is enough for her.

Seven months after Sasuke's return, the impossible happens. On one sunny morning, Sai declares rather awkwardly that he is in love with Yamanaka Ino. Sakura sputters on her tea, Naruto has a delayed reaction in which he blinks rapidly, pauses, and resumes, and Sasuke and Kakashi simply nod. Sakura is skeptical at first, but upon seeing the truly puzzled look on Sai's face, her uncertainty fades. There is no fake smile on the man's face, and she makes it her mission to help him get Ino. It turns out though, that not much prodding is actually needed, as before Sakura even mentions the word 'Sai' to Ino, the blonde is already doe-eyed.

Three months after that, there is no other couple in Konoha more ridiculously in love than Sai and Ino, with perhaps the exception of Sasuke and Karin. Sakura is slightly amused by the parallels in the relationships, but she takes it all in stride. Everyone she cares for is happy and loved, and because of that, _she_ is happy. At this point, she doesn't yet know that her world is ending. It however, takes little more than two weeks for her to realize the devastating fact as it becomes clear to her that she has become absolutely replaceable.

They are suddenly too busy for team outings, occupied as they are with dates, double dates and loving each other. Naruto no longer stops by at the hospital between her shifts to see how she's doing, Sai no longer drops by her apartment to bring her a late night snack, and Sasuke no longer seems to have time to train with her.

It is then that she realizes bluntly that everything is different now. There is no going back to what everything used to be from where they currently are – only forward, deeper into a life that apparently does not include her. She bristles and breaks at the realization but blatantly refuses to admit it, especially not to herself. She uses the cure she has always used when faced with issues as such: work harder. And she does, she adds in more hours at work, lines up more missions, takes on more challenges. _This_ time is different though, and she pays the price, for no one is left to stop her, chastise her and care for her when she overworks herself.

It is then that she meets Hyuuga Neji.

Of course, their paths have crossed numerous times before, but she has never really taken notice of him. She has always been too busy, or too preoccupied to really take notice of the Hyuuga that seems to always land himself in the hospital. So it is entirely insane when she asks him to spar with her one day, and to lunch after that. Even more insane is when he agrees quietly, and they set off to their sparring session and lunch date.

After that day, everything changes for her again. Suddenly she knows she's not as alone as she feels, but hard as she tries, Neji never seems to be enough to fill the void left by her favourite men. She insists it's because it's hard for one man to take the place of four, but they both know better. It's a wound that will never heal, and they both accept it as such. But too soon it becomes too complicated, and everything shifts again, subtly. Suddenly they are awkward, walking on eggshells.

Then, this mission put everything back in perspective.

Seeing Neji beat up, battered, burned and torn, she realizes that this is one thing she absolutely _cannot_ afford to lose. To lose the one micropiece of her heart that has been salvaged would be a devastation never to be recovered from. So she steels herself, ignores her own broken rib and wrist as she hauls them away into the middle of the forest where she knows this cottage is. Two weeks together in this slightly heavenly isolation has her heart in the clouds, away from the reality in her heart that constantly threatens to break her. She forgets the awkwardness between them, forgets the rift that had driven them apart.

For two weeks, she is incandescently happy.

Which brings them to _now_, the present, the taboo, everything. She blinks out of her reverie to find Neji with a patient yet expectant look, and she opens her mouth to speak.

"Yes," she whispers. "Yes, I have."

The small smile that is Neji's reply is enough to reassure her that indeed yes, she has accepted.

* * *

><p>For no reason other than the need to indulge in a never before thought of hedonistic urge, the trek back to Konoha takes them twice as long. When they arrive back in Konoha, Sakura's spirits are higher than they have been in a year, and Neji is more elated and carefree than he has ever been. The knowing look on the Godaime's face when they report back with the mission details is enough to elicit a giggle from the girl, and a stifled smirk from the man.<p>

The next night, Neji and Sakura decide to go to dinner at the newly opened tempura house on the east side of town. Sakura is surprised when she realizes she already knows that Neji has a secret adoration for tempura, when she orders enough to last them a lifetime. The dinner they have is filled with quiet laughter and carefree small talk about everything mirthful. The events of her unfortunate heart are almost forgotten when she freezes and nearly drops her chopsticks, the yam tempura caught beneath them tumbling onto the table.

Strolling through the elegant double doors of the restaurant, are the people that make her heart ache exceedingly like no other. They are all there, all six of them – minus Kakashi, for he is probably on a mission – laughing, smiling and _living_. What makes her heart break even more is the fact that they are not walking in pairs that indicate their love. Rather, Naruto is chumming along with Karin, Ino with Sasuke and Hinata conversing lightly with Sai. It makes Sakura's heart ache and ache like no other to see that in addition to love, they have forged the same friendships that she once shared with them.

By the look on Sakura's face, Neji can guess what she has seen, but to be sure, he activates his Byakugan briefly to verify. Sure enough, he sees through his kekkei genkai the people that have caused all of Sakura's suffering, and unconsciously, he shifts in his seat slightly in an attempt to shield her from view. But they are a large group in a small restaurant, and they hear the inevitable gasp of surprise only a moment later.

"Sakura!" Ino catches sight of Sakura first, and bounds over, the rest in tow. "When did you get back? Heard you were on a long haul mission!"

"Yesterday," Sakura replies, wondering briefly, nostalgically when they stopped referring to each other as Forehead and Pig.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto pipes in, asking the same question Ino has just asked. Sakura gives him the same reply, a monotonous "yesterday," but he seems not to hear, as he is already inviting her to the big party they are having for Karin's birthday tomorrow. Sakura tries her best to keep up with the conversation, but with each new word, her energy drains as if she's performing a Class S procedure. Within seconds the rest have joined in the conversation, and even Neji talks along.

For any onlooker, they look like the perfect group of friends; four couples, laughing, living, loving. Even the other six agree, feeling as happy as they've ever been. They fail to notice anything amiss in the pink haired woman, shrouded as they are in their bubble of ecstasy. Neji is not under the same delusions, for he sees the fatigue beginning to gather on Sakura's pretty face, and the hurt beginning to surface. A barely concealed scowl makes its way onto his face when he announces that he and Sakura must leave.

"Already?" Naruto pouts. "Okay. But be sure to come to teme's tomorrow for Karin's birthday!"

Neji nods a "sure" for Sakura as he slams down a wad of bills, and all but hauls the distraught woman out of the booth. When they are finally out of sight, Sakura lets go of the last of her façade. He takes her to the only place he can think of that has no connection to anything that might bring her pain – a small apartment of his that he keeps for emergency purposes. The walk to the complex is a long one, for it is on the other side of Konoha completely, away from any shinobi business. With every new step they take, he feels her fatigue increase until he is nearly acting as her crutch.

She is so emotionally drained that when they are still twenty minutes away at their civilian pace, he sweeps her off her feet and onto his back. They exchange no words on this walk back – she doesn't ask where they are going, and he does not comment on the increasingly wet patch on his shoulder. The walk comforts her slightly, and she is dozing on his back by the time they arrive. The apartment is very sparsely furnished, for there is no room for anything extravagant – only a bed and coffee table are able to fit, without furniture overflowing into the even smaller kitchenette.

Delicately, he places the slumbering girl on the double bed. When he sees her tear stained cheeks, his heart breaks.

* * *

><p>She's sitting on the carving of the Third, legs dangling, eyes gazing wistfully at the crescent moon. Neji is sitting there also, holding her, fingers weaving through her hair. They do this every night now, sitting silently, gazing, thinking. But he knows tonight is different, he feels it in the air around them. Tonight is her turn to break the taboo.<p>

Suddenly, she turns the intensity of her gaze on him, so quickly that he's taken aback by the turmoil in them, though he doesn't know why – he is used to it.

"Take me away," she breathes quietly. "Take me anywhere but here."

Neji blinks his beautiful eyes shut then, soaking in the depth of her words. He has seen this coming, has been _waiting_ for it, almost. The only question was when and how – and now those too, are answered. The meeting in the tempura house had been too much for her, and in the days since, they have been waltzing across glass. Very fragile glass.

When he opens his eyes again, he is looking away, toward the moon, at anything but the fragile woman in his arms. He avoids her gaze not because of the weakness and shattered fragments he knows he will find there – rather, it is because even in her state of fragility, she is strong, stronger than she knows. He is afraid that once he sees as well, he will not be able to comply to her wish. In the days leading up to this, he has been contemplating the answer he should give.

The devil in him wants to comply, to whisk her away to a world that contains only the two of them. The nagging conscious insists that he should do no such thing as horrible as stripping her of her only comfort, _home_. Despite the logic of the latter, he still secretly roots for the former. It is selfish, it is wrong, but still, he convinces himself that it is for the best.

It is true that she needs this. She needs to be away from everything that pains her, to relax and to heal. Even more true than that however, is that _he_ needs her, wants her to be away from all that takes her away from him.

Hyuuga Neji has never been selfish in his life, so he convinces himself that splurging just this once should be okay. He ignores the voice that whispers it is anything _but_, and holds her tighter in his arms.

"Okay," he murmurs back. "Okay."

Without another word, they disappear into the night, into the unknown, into a different future.

* * *

><p>From her office, Tsunade watches this exchange. She watches as he tenses, relaxes and clutches her tighter. Even though she knows what she is seeing, knows what they are doing, she doesn't do anything to prevent it. The only sign that the beautiful Godaime has seen anything at all is when she finally sighs, after they have disappeared from view.<p>

To lose two of her most prized shinobi is a shame. But before being a shinobi, Sakura is her daughter. More than anyone, Tsunade knows the girl needs this. A wry smile makes its way onto Tsunade's face as she makes her way out of the office. She has faith in them, the two of them together.

Someday, they will return.

* * *

><p><em>fin<em>


	3. itasaku: never let me go

**title:** never let me go**  
><strong>**prompts: **07. clouds & 027. faith & 33. desperate plea  
><strong>pairing:<strong> uchiha itachi & haruno sakura  
><strong>word Count: <strong>1938

**summary:** It's a weakness, but she'll never be able to let this one go.

* * *

><p>Clouds gather in the masses behind them, and the sky rumbles its contented reply. The only thing amiss is the lack of rainfall, but as the sky growls its protest once again, there is no doubt in the minds of the two shinobi standing mere miles away that the impending thunderstorm is approaching. However, in their small clearing, it is as if the world around them ceases to exist entirely.<p>

She is eyeing him warily from the east end, her posture tense and prepared for any onslaught of attacks he might choose to welcome her with. They are enemies now, she reminds herself yet again; it is something that would do her well to remember. She no longer holds the same sort of immunity she once did, but even as her muscles tense in anticipation, her mind is still lax. There is the little sliver of hope clawing at her senses, preaching that surely, he wouldn't be able to kill her.

On the reverse side of the clearing, he is standing perfectly still with his Sharingan ablaze. Unlike his female counterpart, there is no wariness from him. The only aura he emits is the overwhelmingly confident one that shrouds his person completely. Usually this is hidden by the overpowering intent to kill that radiates off him in waves, but she is his ultimate weakness.

He could never kill her, but she is too naïve to notice.

"Sakura," he finally acknowledges, and her name rolls off his tongue with painful familiarity. Her stomach knows itself firmly and tightly at the rich baritone of his voice; she has missed it so much. She yearns for him to be closer to her, close enough to touch, and too late she remembers that such a touch would be fatal now.

She inclines her head slightly in a small nod, curt and pained. "Itachi."

An awkward silence fills the clearing then, and she is suddenly unsure of her next move. Does she move and attack, as her job and duty entail her to? Or does she simply walk away, and pretend that he is but a figment of her imagination? Of course, she does neither, for she is incapable. She will never be able to attack him with the ferocity of an enemy, but she is sure he will not return the same courtesy. Such is the way unrequited, one sided love works. And such is the way her heart works – she is foolish, after all. Simply walking away is also out of the question. There is no such thing as walking away from Uchiha Itachi. He is too powerful, too compelling, too alluring, and she is too naïve, too trusting, and too vulnerable. She has never stood a chance, and they both know it.

So she settles for the only thing she is able to do, and dark emeralds roam the Uchiha's body unabashedly. She ignores the scarlet gaze that is also unblinkingly drinking in her image, as well as the shivers it sends through her person. She is unsurprised that he still holds the ability to steal her breath away by doing absolutely _nothing_, and allows for her entranced mind to absorb all that it can. It's as if she wants to memorize every feature, etching them as deep into her mind as she can, because she feels, _knows_ deep inside her that this chance will never come again.

There are new lines of stress, as well as old ones etched deeper on his patrician face. She has no delusions of what he has been doing in her absence, and is certain they are the cause of his premature aging. He is no hero, and he has never claimed to be one. An anti-hero, perhaps, but his past is too bloodied, too dark, and too full of empty ambitions to allow him even that title. Her twin emeralds travel upwards slightly to land on his swirling crimson gaze. He is still staring back, but as soon as her gaze lands there, she does a double take.

It's as if a dam within her breaks, and anger floods through her system, completely unwelcome and unannounced.

"You've gone and done it again, haven't you?" she bites out, the wary, slightly frightened girl from seconds before gone. In her place stands the fierce, outspoken kunoichi he remembers so vividly in his flawless memory. "I told you not to overuse your eyes."

"It is necessary."

"Then I'm assuming you _like_ being blind?" she fires back, and this time, he can clearly see the anger flash through her eyes, despite his current disability. She stops suddenly, as if she's had an epiphany. After her slight pause, she opens her mouth to speak again. But this time it's different; there's a mixture of hurt, confusion and anger in her eyes.

"Is that why you're here?" Is that why, after you said you _never wanted to see me again_, that I was a waste of space, you're here?"

He hesitates for a split second, and it goes unnoticed in her rage. "Yes."

"You expect me to just heal your eyes"

"Yes."

"Why the hell would I do that?"

He doesn't reply to this, only stares at her with a sort of expectancy. She feels the anger rising within her, but also the defeat. In a few moments the anger simmers down almost completely, and she knows he is right. She has never been able to say no to him, and she will never be able to. So she does the only thing she can, and turns her vivid, burning emeralds away from the enigmatic man standing before her. Perhaps if she can't see his face, the same face she has come to love above all else, she will be able to break free from his transfixing spell.

In a flurry of the faint smell of peaches that is Itachi, Sakura finds herself trapped between his firm body and the rough tree behind her. His arms are not touching hers; his body is the perfect trap, and his silence is more commanding than his words could ever be.

_This weakness will never falter,_ she admits to herself bitterly, knowing that no other can distract her enough to let her guard down so.

Hesitantly, she turs her gaze back to his swirling scarlet orbs. He pauses only for a slight second before speaking. "Perhaps I had overestimated your faith."

It is cynical, cryptic, and so typically Itachi that she nearly cries. But somehow, she holds on to the last shreds of her dignity to spit out a "What are you _talking_ about, Itachi?" in an easily fake tone of exasperation. The exasperation, though, is not entirely feigned, for she is tired, tired of all their chases. "Stop playing games with me," she whispers. "I quit. _I don't want to love you anymore_." But the familiar warmth of his strong body does not disappear from hers, and she remembers, with disdain or nostalgia, she doesn't know, that he is never one to give up on what he wants, though something seems to shift in the air after her last words.

"I was under the impression that your _faith_ in me was stronger," he monotones back, but she sees a flicker of life in his beautiful eyes. "I see now that I was mistaken."

"My faith?" she echoes back, almost in disbelief. _Of all the things, that is something he has absolutely no right to question._

This time, he presses even closer to her body. "Did you really believe every word I said?" he growls, and she can detect the faintest trace of anger. She blanches; what right does _he_ have to be angry? "Are you really so naïve still, to believe everything that's told to you?"

She does not reply, nor does he give her the chance to. "Does everything that has happened mean nothing to you?"

"How _dare-_"

"Then perhaps, I was right to leave."

Itachi pauses, and Sakura unknowingly lets out the shaky breath she has been holding. It feels as if he has stopped to take a quick breather, to look at the scenery – but in another moment, his eyes narrow down at her and his mouth is so close to her ear that she feels her breath catch once more. "What am I to you, Sakura?" he whispers in an almost-purr. "What do you think you are to _me_?"

"I…" she stutters, blinking her unworldly eyelashes in confusion. For the slightest of moments time seems to stop for the spellbound girl, but even as she bites her lips in hesitation, he can see the courage formulating slowly under the surface. He is not wrong, as her bright emeralds glance up to meet his eyes a moment later, a perfect clash of Christmas colours. "Everything. And to the latter…_nothing_."

If she had been unconsciously expecting anything in response, the abrupt removal of his unusual heat is definitely not what she'd had in mind – nothing short of apocalyptic doom, perhaps. Instead, he moves away. In this whirlwind of slow motion movement, her roaming orbs catch a glimpse of something unmentionable in his deadly orbs, but it is too quick for her to commit to memory and perhaps, too quick to even be real.

At a later day she might reflect that it is nothing short of disinterest and disgust – but in the heat of the moment, she hopes against hope that it is something a little more.

"What are you really trying to say?" she bites out finally, exhausted. "Just this once, _please_, just say what you goddamn mean!"

This seems to hit home, as, without warning, all the tension eases from his lean body, as if all the air has been sucked out. He should've looked simply saggy, by all means, but Sakura notes that even deflated, he looks as regal as ever. "Will you – _do _you trust me?"

To a bystander, his statement, a question in all its form would be interpreted as such. It is the sane interpretation – but Sakura freezes at his words and her lips quiver in response. It escapes her notice completely that it is a question – it is insignificant and though her answer works, sense and sanity are not the reasons for it to be given. "…_Yes_."

"You opinion has changed."

"_No_," Sakura dares a glance at the poignant man, and notes that his eyes are still fluttered shut.

"Yet, you doubt."

"I am many things, Itachi. But I am no saint," she whispers. "_Even I have a limit."_

When he turns his gaze back to her, there's an almost lazy feel to it, as if he's a cat studying his prey. "Time. Trust. Hold on to it. Hold on to this silly faith of yours," even as he says this, he can see the impossible look of defeat in her eyes. But his next words shock her into bleeding mirth, "_And I will return to you."_

Before her lips, brain, or anything else can digest the situation, her heart has already made the judgement call, for she is already uttering a quiet, quivering, "_okay."_

Itachi's lips curl up deliciously into a devious smirk, and, taking advantage of her situation, sweeps down for a quick, violent kiss. She is barely recovered when he whispers quite delicately into her ear, "_I'll be seeing you, then."_

Then, he's gone, as if he had never been there to begin with, as if he had been an apparition of her yearning all along. In another moment the first raindrops drip onto her unguarded self, and she's left to wonder at the weakness of her own heart.

* * *

><p><em>fin<em>


	4. kakasaku: reigning off the beaten path

**title: **reigning off the beaten path  
><strong>characters: <strong>Hatake Kakashi & Haruno Sakura  
><strong>word count: <strong>3227  
><strong>prompts:<strong> o26. the sound of waves & cliché: o3. amnesia & o39. beyond the horizon  
><strong>summary: <strong>Lost in the aftermaths of the bloodiest war ever, he finds her, in the most unlikeliest of place, in the most unfortunate of situations.

_**note:** part 1 of 3._

* * *

><p>"We'll stop at that town for the night," the commander's voice buzzed through the earpiece, and behind him, three exhausted bodies nearly sagged with relief. Their fear of showing weakness before their sometimes ruthless, sometimes carefree, and always depressed (he hid it well, but they spent too much time together <em>not<em> to notice) leader forbid them from actually relieving themselves of the motion. But their gratitude to the silver-haired, reinstated ANBU was at its peak, for letting them at least have a bed, crappy as it may be, to sleep on after a mission like this.

"Aren't we really close to the ocean?" the latest addition to their team questioned nonchalantly as they sped towards the small gate.

"Yeah, which means we're really far from _home_," a disgruntled voice cut in, pumping more chakra into his abused legs. Kakashi's silhouette was barely still visible on the horizon, and as much as he trusted his old friend on the battlefield, Genma knew that there were far too many metaphorical wounds still bleeding for that man to be okay.

Already, five springs had come and gone. It was enough time for a child to grow and blossom into a state of almost-maturity, where angelic smiles and toothy laughs lose themselves to time, but Genma knew that Kakashi's wounds would still be bleeding, even if the five springs multiply into thirty.

The war had been harsh on everyone – too many things were lost, and even more were sacrificed. Kakashi's endless history of outliving everyone around him had manifested again in the worst possible form, and the lives that had joined the immortal memory of Obito and Rin and everyone else were ones he never wished to add.

Sasuke, because he was first – not that Kakashi felt he deserved any amounts of remorse, but it was the simple acknowledgement of failure that kept him in the habit of including a short mention of his name every morning. Naruto, because he was the saviour – like the Fourth that he had always respected, the blonde man had made the ultimate sacrifice to save everything so dear to him. Perhaps it had been destiny, but the trade of his life for the lives of the worst enemies of state was one the optimistic blonde had made without hesitation.

And then there was Sakura. Sakura, because she was the only girl, because there was too much remorse, too much regret and too many apologies to the cerise coloured woman for him to not include her. But there was also too much hope, hope he knew he couldn't afford to have.

The bodies of Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto had been given a special grave, maybe because of Tsunade's evident fondness for the blonde, or because of her final trickles of pity for her successor's endless pool of broken dreams, but stripping the optimistic child of his last wish was something the Godaime was not capable of. It had been no extravagant secret that for the remainder of their life, the two left behind members of Team Seven struggled with all their will to be reunited with their lost counterpart. No matter how many times Sasuke tried to take their lives with him, it simply wasn't enough to kill their relentless hope.

So it was with a bittersweet smile that the Godaime said her parting words to the two best friends, _brothers_ in a sense, as she laid them in the ground. The Team Seven gravesite – it was an honour never heard of before, but they had always been a special threesome. The three names that adrorned the plaque made anyone's heart from their generation bleed, but the last one – _Haruno Sakura_ – was but an empty lie on polished marble. Or so Kakashi liked to tell himself – KIA, she had been deemed. The war had been too brimmed with chaos for anyone to be sure of what happened to her, but her body never was found. It had been suspicious, for sure – the Godaime's precious apprentice, with flamboyant _pink_ hair...surely, finding her amongst the rubble should've been an easy task. And so the hope he knew he should never nurture grew inside him. _M_IA, not _K_IA, he insisted fervently to himself.

But five years had drifted by, 1826 days of saying his prayers to the people that have left him behind, and no still no sight of coral flavoured hair to wake him from his depression.

"One room," he said to the clerk, and the young man jerked awake, the drool from his doze still lingering on his chin.

"Sure," he mumbled.

Behind Kakashi, the three remaining members of ANBU Squad Five trickled in, eyes bleary behind their porcelain masks. They made quite a sight in the small inn that was the only one of its kind in the small seaside town. In the decor of homely wood, surprisingly decent furniture and no peeling paint, they stuck out more than blotches of pink in an inky mass would.

"364 ryo please," the clerk muttered lazily, and Kakashi was hard pressed to believe that there was a legitimate pricing scheme behind the 364 he was currently handing over. In his current state of near-unconsciousness, Kakashi was more ready to believe that the young man had pulled the number from the random abyss of his mind. "Thanks. Room 213, to your right."

But Kakashi said nothing in complaint as he took the key in exchange for the small stack of money. His three subordinates had already begun the trudge to their temporary haven, but Kakashi's sluggish steps were halted by the soprano "Eiji-kun!" that drifted from somewhere behind him. Five steps in front of him, Genma froze in his trek as well. Both jaded men whipped their heads around to face the source of the voice, and if it weren't for the senbon falling from Genma's slack lips, the two remaining, newer members of the team might not have noticed that their seniors had been rendered dumbstruck by something.

"...Sakura?" Genma whispered, voice raspy after such long negligence. He couldn't help the legs that rushed him forward towards the emerald eyed woman, his own chocolate orbs drinking her _alive_ image in. "Sakura!"

She blinked her pretty eyes up at him, and tilted her head sideways to study him better. It took her a full fifteen seconds to utter anything, but when she did, the disappointment that coursed through both men were like such they had never felt before.

"I'm sorry," she said with a smile with all her apologies in it. "But do we know each other?"

_Do we know each other?_

_...do we _know_ each other?_

Genma staggered backwards at her words, at the heavy implication of her words. Granted, the ANBU mask and uniform somewhat hindered her ability to identify them, but the hitai-ate should've been a dead giveaway. But she didn't know, or didn't remember. Did it really matter? he wondered momentarily before shooting a wayward glance at the still-silent Kakashi.

"My name is Ayako," she continued, the smile still flirting with her lips. "You are...?"

"Leaving," Kakashi interrupted from behind. Even through the double layer covering his face, Genma could see clearly from his lone eye the disapproving undertone. All the swallowed feelings from the past five years of everything were gulped down with that one word, and like an obedient subordinate, Genma turned away.

Shoulders tense and memories resurfacing, the two men stalked stiffly towards Room 213, leaving in their wake two baffled ANBU and two even more baffled hotel clerks.

* * *

><p>"Where's the Captain?" Akio commented lightly, the relaxed grin melting into his boyishly handsome features.<p>

"Out," Genma replied, with none of the former's ease in that one word. "We're going to delay our journey one day here."

"Really?" the newly inaugurated teen beamed. "So we can go out to the beach? And hit the springs here?"

The two others received his enthusiasm with matching blankness on their contrastingly handsome features. The blonde never failed to exhaust their surprise for his penchant for playfulness, and Genma allowed himself a small laugh, forced as it may have been, for the fifteen year old. "Yeah, but you know the rules, boys."

Akio's twin, the polar opposite of the sun-filled blonde still beaming at their unexpected vacation shot Genma a quizzical stare, but dared not voice his thoughts. They had only been working with the two jaded men for two months, and without familiarity to fall back onto, he had no right by protocol to question their decisions or motives. With a sharp nod for the blonde talking excitedly and the brunette ignoring him pointedly, Genma swept out of the room in a flurry of charcoal gear.

"Let's go to the springs – I saw it last night on our way here!" Akio said in a near yell. The annoyed glare his brother was shooting at him in daggers did nothing to stop the boy from dragging the reluctant latter out, mouth still working a mile a minute.

"Idiot," Dai muttered. "You _do_ realize that we're supposed to be undercover?"

"Oh, you heard Genma-senpai!" Akio pouted up at the serious boy. "We're taking a break today. Don't act like such a stick in the mud all the time!"

"How is it that _you_ made it into ANBU again?"

"Oh, that's _low_, isn't it?" Akio laughed. "Besides, everyone knows I'm better than _you_."

"Not even in your wildest dreams, _o-tou-to_," Dai smirked, triumphant. The age card was always the trump card in their childish banters, if the pout Akio was shooting him was any indication.

"Only by one minute and seventeen seconds!"

"Whatever, it's not like-"

"Wait, shh!" Akio interrupted suddenly, the playfulness in his voice gone. Dai complied wordlessly. If he'd learned anything in the fifteen years of their relationship, it was that when Akio got serious, then you were damn well sure that it was _serious_. Before he'd had time to react, his brother had pulled him back behind the alley they'd just emerged from. "Look!" he hissed.

Following the discreet finger jabbed in a general northeastern direction, Dai's gaze travelled until it settled finally on the cause of Akio's sudden mood swing. Sure enough, standing in front of the coffee shop were their two superiors, and the pretty hotel clerk with the oddest hair they'd ever seen. To untrained eyes, it would've seemed like two men making harmlessly casual conversation with a woman, but from the twins' point of view, the tension was so thick in the air that even they felt nearly suffocated.

The hushed baritones were barely discernable over the distance, but with ears perked and strained to their maximum, the curious twins barely made out the basic gist of the conversation. Akio, confused by the double implications of every new line their teammates uttered could understand little else. It was only with the edges of Dai's slowly enlightening face that Akio could bear to not blurt out a string of questions. If they were doing something perfectly acceptable before, they certainly weren't now. Being caught spying on one's superiors was simply something the brothers had no wish of, especially considering just _who_ these men were.

"I'm sorry," the pretty woman's soprano drifted over softly, and even under his cool facade, Dai could feel every edge of the alluring quality in her magical voice. "But I'm afraid I don't understand, I'm _Ayako_, as I told you before. I live here, and I've always lived here."

"If you could just let us see your right bicep-"

"You'll have to excuse my friend," Kakashi cut in. Even with his back facing the two snooping in the alley, they could imagine perfectly well the infamous crinkle of his eye and curve of his lips under his ever-present mask. But the woman, now smiling delicately with a bit of wayward fear for the men did not pick up on the tense battle between the two men with their double standard words. "He's recently been through a bit of trauma."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," she accompanied her words with another smile – a little sad, for the words that had just been bestowed upon her. "If it'll make you feel better, I see no harm in showing you my arm."

"Please," Genma cooed, playing along with the opening that Kakashi had unexpectedly provided him with.

But even with all that had been said and done in the encounter, Kakashi's anticipation at seeing the coveted arm was higher even than Genma's. It should've been that way – but there had been too much fear, too many broken hopes and the infinite pool of everything in-between for him to want to know. Now that the evidence of what he'd been praying for for years now was right in front of him, he was at a loss for what to do. Waiting the ten seconds it took for the woman to delicately roll her yukata sleeve up were ten of the longest in his lifetime.

What could they do though, even _if_ she was by chance, Sakura? Surely, they were no medic-nin, but even Kakashi knew that amnesia beyond a few years was too far gone to have any hope for salvation. And what right, did they have to pull her away from the shreds of reality that she had formed for herself? The happiness permeating her bright emeralds was a thing that cannot be learned, a happiness he was _sure_ would dissolve should memories of her rightful life return to her.

So when the telltale swirl of one's blood oath with Konoha's deadliest branch came into view, Kakashi had none of the relief and happiness to show for her survival. Everything was too complicated now. It was as she said; she was not Sakura, but _Ayako_ now. He could not have hoped for his comrade to come to the same conclusion, blinded he was by the euphoric high that seeing Sakura again had brought. A short "thank you, Ayako-san" was all Kakashi could offer the baffled woman, as he all but dragged Genma away from the scene.

Back in the alley, two identical man, save for their hair colours, stood in absolute shock at what they had witnessed. It had not been deteriorating eyesight that led them to see the ANBU tattoo they both wore proudly mirrored on the hotel clerk's arm, and suddenly, her odd hair colour wasn't so odd anymore.

It had been carelessness that brought them to forgetting Kakashi's old team in the investigation of this matter. And even though they had been mere children back then, no one could forget the fearsome twosome (plus one, missing somewhere in the abyss) that had caught the world by storm.

Bright, optimistic Uzumaki Naruto, the mighty Rokudaime-sama, Kyuubi vessel and only descendant of the loved Yondaime-sama. He had been the light of Konoha, the black horse and brightest jewel all in one. Even in the then eight year old Dai's war torn memories, visions of the blonde bringing _hope_ back were all too present.

And then there had been Haruno Sakura, the fearsome Godaime-sama's revered apprentice, labelled as the best known medic in all countries around with the scariest right hook of anyone, _anywhere_, known by her delicate, unique shade of hair. Her unbreakable love for Konoha was one thing no one could ever forget.

It had been with great grief, remorse, angst and everything caught in-between that the citizens of Konoha, shinobi and civilians alike buried these two great shinobi, saviours of Konoha in different ways. It had not been public knowledge that Sakura's body had never been found, and had Dai not seen the woman with his own eyes, he would've very well never believed it.

But as it were, Haruno Sakura was _very_ much alive.

* * *

><p>"What the hell do you think you're doing?"<p>

"What about _you_? That's Sakura – don't even try to deny it. As a shinobi of the leaf, you have a _duty_ to bring her back," Genma said, a little exasperated, and a lot frustrated. The slight pause in his words allowed for his carefully barraged anger to filter through, even if it was minimal. "Don't you _want_ her back?"

"There are exceptions."

"Exceptions?" Genma sputtered, disbelief colouring his boyishly handsome features. "Am I talking to Kakashi here?"

"It's for the best," Kakashi paused, turning his face away from his long-time comrade. "It's best for _her_, like this."

"Best for her? Best for _her_? Do you hear yourself?" Genma hissed, nearly losing enough control to want to shake some sense into Kakashi. "She _belongs_ in Konoha."

"This type of life fits her," Kakashi replied, twisting himself around completely to face the balcony. The repetitive crashing of waves chorusing in the background nearly drowned out the harsh tones of their conversation, and maybe it was the magical harmony of his words with the melody of the waves, but in that moment, Genma understood what he was saying.

And once it finally dawned on him, it shamed him so completely to remember his complete loss of control just seconds ago. Kakashi, still tracing the movement of the water beneath seemed to be in another world altogether, and paid no heed to his friend's sudden silence.

"So this is it?" Genma asked, the little bits of hope he had harboured edging away as quickly as they had formed. "You're sure about this?"

If Kakashi made any reply to the simple question that would decide their entwining fates forever, Genma heard only the crashing of waves down below. But in his mind, the silence could not have screamed _yes_ more if the distant man had said yes in the most extravagant of tones.

It was yet another silent piece of evidence of Kakashi's selflessness, a virtue he liked to tuck away behind his impenetrable wall of aloof tardiness. But Genma knew better. The last five years, sixty months, one thousand, eight hundred and twenty days of suffering that Kakashi had been forced to wallow in was unlike any other, a sort of pain indescribable and incomparable to any other. And salvation was so close; the smiling face with sparkling emeralds, and a laughter to chime like the wind. She had been right in front of them, within reach, within touching distance.

But it had been exactly that, Genma knew, that caused Kakashi to make the decision he did. Here, without the shackles of war, and the heart break of a broken home, she could be whole and _free_ to love, live and laugh. The pretty smile she wore for her friends here, the twinkle of mischief in her eyes was something Konoha could no longer offer her – at least not now, anyway.

A small wayward sigh, barely perceptible even to his own ears escaped his lips then, and the only sound left to mingle in the room was the soft click of the door swinging shut behind him. Both men needed time to mourn the loss of Haruno Sakura all over again, but even as understanding and bittersweet acceptance crushed the feelings of disappointment within, he couldn't help but wonder if _this_ is what being kissed by the unforgiving lips of despair felt like.

Because now, while the blooming hope of Sakura still walking amongst their world had blossomed and flowered, the even more important light of belief of her returning home had extinguished itself forever.

* * *

><p><em>tbc<em>


	5. kakasaku: the extremes of selfishness

**title:** the extremes of selfishness  
><strong>characters:<strong> Haruno Sakura  
><strong>word count:<strong> 1250  
><strong>prompts:<strong> 30. a life of lies & clichés: 06. pretending to be together & 05. "ano sa…"  
><strong>summary:<strong> After five years, Sakura makes another life changing decision. The outcomes of this one, though, are much less predictable and that much more explosive.

**note:** part 2/3, sequel to reigning off the beaten path. early apologies for the blatant lack of kakasaku and kakashi altogether. consider it a chapter to move the plot along nicely. enjoy!

* * *

><p>Sakura looked out at the crashing waves, her expression wistful, her heart listless. Had she done the right thing? It had been by no means impulsive, and she'd been so sure…but why did her heart feel so absolutely awful and empty? The expression they'd worn was heartbreaking, tugging and nagging at the conscience she'd long since stowed away. Kakashi's had been so acceptingly sorrowful, and Genma's so full of crushed hopes that her suppressed guilt flooded her, until she was awash with the feeling.<p>

_Five years_, she thought. The time had passed her by so quickly, she hadn't even had a mind to count them. The life of sweetness and peace suited her well, much better than she'd originally thought. Though the years had flown by for Sakura, all it had taken was one look for her to see that the same could not be said for Kakashi. Even beneath the mask, he'd looked haggard, age etched into every corner of his jaded body. For the pain she'd caused him, she felt so extremely apologetic, the word _sorry_ didn't even begin to cover it. But that was all she was sorry for.

Sakura refused to be sorry for anything else.

She had seen the bedazzled and eventually accusatory gleam in the two young ANBU's eyes. Though they had been hidden in the shadows of the alley, she'd seen them. Theirs was a look she'd been preparing herself to see for years, ever since she made her selfish decision. It was a look that said, _hey, you really look like Haruno fucking Sakura._ But she was prepared. She'd spent the last five years training her instinct to _not_ react, and it worked.

That was the story she'd been forcing her mind to believe, but her heart spun a completely different tale. Her weak heart was the reason she was sitting out here, alone and whimsical, wallowing in her denied guilt. It was the reason she would never again be able to continue living her blissfully ignorant civilian life.

"Ayako-chan?"

Sakura turned at the interruption. There to meet her gaze was Eiji, the civilian man that had found her half dead in the rubble. He'd been that one constant thing in her life, that one earthly thing that had kept her rooted to this false life. "Hey," she said, patting the spot next to her.

Eiji followed her gesture and took the spot, sitting down. "Ayako-chan, are you okay? You've been really distant lately," he said. In a quieter voice, he added, "Ever since those shinobi stayed at our inn a month ago."

_I've been that obvious, huh_? Sakura mused to herself. She shook her head though, a futile denial. "I'm fine. There's just a lot on my mind."

"Are you…" he ventured, hesitant. "Are you by any chance _remembering_?"

_And if you are, do those nin have anything to do with it? And if they do, were you one of them too? _were the questions Sakura heard with his simple question. There was a moment of reflection as she pondered his unspoken inquiries, when the world ceased to move at all around her. There was only the hovering of the life she had fabricated and the life that was true, floating in the space that occupied the very air she breathed. It very nearly suffocated her.

At least she heaved in a breath, gruesome and heavy. She turned her sharp gaze onto the man, breathing, saying, "Eiji-kun. I haven't been completely honest with you."

Surprisingly, it was not a look of shock that coated his features at her words, but one of patience and resignation. Sakura reeled inwardly. Was it possible that he had known all along? But there was no time to ponder that now. There was only enough time and effort left for her to speak and not think, because thinking would mean regretting.

With a deep breath, she started to tell him the story of one Haruno Sakura.

"Are you sure about this?"

Eiji nodded enthusiastically. Unfortunately, this only served to spark Sakura's agitation further. It wasn't his fault, really, but she'd been a ticking bomb ever since they'd set out from the town a week and a half ago, and he was the only nearby fuse. With every excruciatingly slow step they took towards Konoha, Sakura felt her anger rise and simmer. Eiji had insisted he be allowed to accompany her, and Sakura hadn't had the heart to deny him. It meant having to walk at a baby's pace, their mellow civilian steps taking them there at nearly five times the rate.

"I still think it's awesome that you're a kunoichi," Eiji prattled on, pretty much nonsensically. "I mean, you can do so many amazing things. Walk on water, run so fast you're pretty much _flying_, do jutsus…everything!"

"Being a shinobi is not about being glorious, Eiji, " Sakura admonished through pinched lips. "All glory is fleeting."

"Oh," he blushed like a chastised child. "Right. Sorry."

Sakura sighed and turned to give him a chaste kiss on his cheek. "Not your fault. I didn't mean to snap anyhow. Just old shinobi rules and all that."

"Yeah, I understand," he mumbled.

Except he didn't understand. Eiji knew this, and Sakura knew it better than he did. It was a truth that couldn't be circumvented, and a truth that hung like the elephant in the room. He would never understand her, the Haruno Sakura that walked next to him now. They had absolutely nothing in common with each other. Eiji was realizing with every new step he took that _this_ girl also had nearly nothing in common with the Ayako he'd come to love over the last five years.

"Well, Eiji-kun, we're almost at Konoha now. Once we're there, there's no turning back."

"I know, Ay-" he blushed at his mistake. "Sakura-chan. You don't need to keep asking."

"Right."

It was her turn to turn away, and when she did, the looming gates of Konoha suddenly filled her vision. The sight of _home_ struck Sakura like thunder bolts in winter, striking her, freezing her. It was happiness, angst and apprehension all mixed in one ball of fury, stabbing through her, leaving her suddenly weak of body and weak of heart. She barely suppressed the instinct to reach out and grab Eiji's arm for support. For once, he kept his words to himself.

It was not even five minutes later when they reached the foot of the gates. In the three hundreds steps that Sakura had taken, all the apprehension had melted away, leaving her with only insatiable excitement. Two bored looking chuunin flickered their lazy gazes towards them when they stopped.

"State you-"

The chuunin stopped talking as he soaked in the image of the woman before him. It was a face they remembered well, a face that every Konoha shinobi knew well.

The guards looked uncertainly at the woman standing before them, then at each other... Pink hair…but that was impossible. She was dead, along with the rest of her legendary team. The one on the left exchanged an uncertain look with his partner before asking, hesitantly, "Name and business in Konoha?"

Sakura shot them an amused, yet impatient smile. "Haruno Sakura," she started, drawling out each syllable. "Here to return to duty."

The stunned looks on their faces were enough to convince Sakura that she'd made the right decision. _And here it starts, _Sakura thought, her smile growing until it curled deliciously on her face.

"_Haruno Sakura?"_

* * *

><p><em>tbc<em>

_reviews are also super appreciated! ;)_


	6. sasusaku: when stars tumble

**title:** when stars tumble  
><strong>characters:<strong> Uchiha Sasuke & Haruno Sakura  
><strong>word count:<strong> 4007  
><strong>prompts:<strong> 167. dancing in the fountain & emotions/ 10. lonely & 46. healing  
><strong>summary:<strong> She had always intrigued him, but Sasuke didn't know just how deep this infatuation would take him. Didn't know until he was way in over his head that _this_ was exactly what he needed.

**note:** AU modern world.

* * *

><p>The first time he <em>really<em> saw her, his only thought was that she had to be completely, absolutely, _irresistibly_ insane.

Like a fluttering, living sculpture she floated in the water, with a lightness to her steps that looked miraculous. He'd almost thought that she was standing _on_ the water. _That_, he blamed on the five glasses of Chardonnay back inside the reception. The quaint, mid-sized fountain with priceless statues somehow looked complete with its newest addition. Sasuke quite liked the way she fluttered and flitted around, bringing with her a trail of red as she danced.

Against the backdrop of sparkling night stars, ageless marble and glimmering water reflecting the twinkles, she was a gem, a vision in dark rouge and cerise, twirling her way to infinity. And twirl she did – the dark pumps wrapped dangerously within her slender fingers threatened to break free with every new spin, flipping with the violence of the speed. Then her head twisted, showing him the playful smirk curled deliciously on her lips.

"Hey," she called softly, wading over in the shallow water. He noted that she, unlike other women, didn't fuss over the hem of her beautiful crafted dress. "The best man shouldn't leave the groom in there to wallow alone."

"And what of the maid of honour?" he smirked back, his legs taking him unconsciously towards her. "Aren't you being a little hypocritical?"

The soft, melodious laugh that was her answer surprised him, even more so because he found that he enjoyed the sound. Her eyes sparkled when she spoke again. "Touche, Sasuke-san."

There was a challenge in her voice, as if daring him to remember her name. Daring him to use it with such familiarity. But Sasuke was never to be outdone. "I'm never wrong, Sakura."

"Oh?" she replied, sitting down delicately on the ledge. Unconsciously, he followed her lead. "And what do you think it is that I'm doing out here?"

"Hiding. What else?"

"Bravo!" She seemed genuinely impressed with her smile, the amusement curving wondrously on her lips. For some reason he couldn't quite fathom, his own lips were itching to curve into the same expression, even after the realization that she was simply toying with her words.

"I don't-"

"Sakura!" Simultaneously, their heads whipped towards the direction of the interruption. They were a whirlwind of onyx and cerise mixed in a blur, and a small frown marred Neji's features at the sight. He hadn't realized that the Uchiha was so intimately acquainted with his girlfriend.

"Neji!" she beamed, literally leaping boundaries, landing gracefully in said man's arms. Sasuke could no longer see her gems for eyes, but he was sure they sparkled when she spoke again. "You found me."

Without even looking back, the pair bounded away arm in arm, idly chatter lingering in the air. When they were far enough away for Sasuke to safely glare at their retreating backs, a sweet sounding 'bye, Sasuke-kun!' found his ears, and he didn't even notice the ease in his glare.

What he _did_ notice was that she had dropped the –san in favour of a more familiar –kun.

* * *

><p>The next time he saw her, he walked right by her.<p>

And then he paused, turned slowly, and traced his steps backwards. If it wasn't for her shock of pink hair, encased haphazardly in a half-hearted bun, he wouldn't have recognized her at all. Curled cosily in the innermost corner of the quaint coffee shop, draped in an oversized sweater and black tights with fluffy legwarmers, she cooked as comfy as could be. With her legs bunched up towards her, the cup of still-steaming coffee sitting before her and her bright emeralds tracing a line in – he squinted – _Pride and Prejudice_ – he wounded how he had missed her the first time.

"Sakura," he found himself saying as he walked over. He had already dropped down into the empty chair before he'd realized his actions.

"Sasuke-kun!" she looked up in surprise, a genuinely happy smile settled on her face. "What brings you here?"

He raised a patrician eyebrow at this, a finger jabbing half-heartedly towards the window. Her eyes traced the line his finger drew, whether to humour him or to satiate her own curiosity, he didn't know. What he did know was that the soft melodious laughter that followed was a sound he'd missed over the past six months. "Of course. Silly me! It's about negative fifty gazillion outside. No wonder you're hiding!"

A smirk found his lips. "Pride and Prejudice?"

"Yes!" she lit up at the name of the book in her hands. "Eh. If only I could find my Mr. Darcy."

"What about Neji?"

She froze at the name, her features losing their sunshine. It only took her a moment to recover, but the damage was lasting. She waved Neji's name away with a laugh. "We're not quite like Lizzie and Darcy."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes a fraction. There was a story there, one that he wanted nothing more than to probe at. But an awkwardness hung in the air between them now at the mention of Neji, and Sasuke's first order of business was to clear it. Sakura, though, beat him to it. "What've you been up to these past months?" she said as she reached for her mug. "It feels like it's been forever since Naruto's wedding."

"Work," he replied simply. Despite his unfairly handsome features, his workaholic tendencies gave him no chance to philander like a man of his age ought. Instead of kisses for company, late nights on the couch with cold coffee was his only solace.

At his words, she scrunched her nose in distaste. "If you work too hard, too much, you're going to become an old man prematurely."

He twitched. "And what about you? Still dancing in fountains?"

It was her turn to offer a smarmy reply. "Only if I wanted frostbite, Sasuke-kun."

If Sasuke was embarrassed by his mindless comment, it didn't show. "Well," he leaned back into his chair with swagger that could only be described as _cool,_ "I wouldn't know what to expect. You _were_ dancing in a fountain, after all."

"Hey!" she pouted, and he thought no expression ever looked more delectable. "In my defence, the moon had made the marble shine like a million twinkling stars."

"Of course," he replied, his voice holding a suspiciously teasing lilt. "And I'm sure the empty bottle of Chardonnay you were clutching like a lifeline had _nothing_ to do with it."

"I only had half the bottle - _honestly!_"

At the playfully exasperated expression settled on her face, Sasuke found that all his wit and knack for a smart repartee had deserted him quite unceremoniously. The silence that had settled over them once again was comfortable enough, and he was satisfied to simply watch the progression of the cherry blush that was spreading across her face as she realized that he was quite blatantly staring her down.

That is, until the classic repetitive tone of her cell phone broke their trance. She muttered a quick 'excuse me' before stealing a glance at the glowing screen. When she caught sight of the name, the pretty flush in her cheeks and she shot up from her chair with speed he didn't think was possible for such a girl.

"Sorry Sasuke-kun, but I have to run!" By the time the last word escaped her parted lips, she had already staggered to the door, her bag strewn haphazardly across her shoulders. The small ringing of the door bell alerted his senses of her departure, and he didn't know how to categorize the uneasy feeling within him at the realization that he had been ditched by her, _twice_.

And it wasn't until he caught sight of the weathered copy of _Pride and Prejudice_ still sitting on the table that he realized that he was indeed, very screwed.

He shook his head mentally at himself before reaching out to grab the old book, clutching it tightly in his long fingers.

It had only been twice, but she had captured his attention more than any other of her gender ever had.

* * *

><p>The third time he saw her, he recognized her straight away.<p>

Perhaps it was because she plagued his mind more than constantly, but he was in no place to admit that to anyone, not even himself. So he settled on believing that it was simply because her vibrant hair contrasted everything else at the black-tie party they were both currently attending.

And it didn't take him long to notice that her not-quite Mr. Darcy was latched firmly onto her thin arms. When her bright emeralds picked him out from the monochrome crowd, they sparkled like a diamond in the sun. "Sasuke-kun!" she waved, a delicate flip of her hand. "Over here!"

It wasn't his style to oblige the whims of a girl, but his legs had grown a will of their own. With the grace of an Uchiha, he weaved his way through the crowd effortlessly to arrive at a short stop in front of the beaming couple. "Sakura," he acknowledged. "Neji."

"Sasuke-kun!" she beamed, the innocent smile hanging on her lips. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see you here, eh?"

"Aa," he replied, suddenly uneasy in the presence of _this_ girl and her whateverboy. But whatever he was feeling inside had no chance of making it onto his patrician features, and he offered them a small nod before sweeping himself away to converse with a nearby socialite.

He _hated_ associating himself with those gold digger socialites – but today, it somehow seemed like the lesser of two evils. He had nothing against the Hyuuga man – he was a good businessman, managed his corporation with adequacy. It was just that whenever Sasuke saw him so near _her_, any respect he had for the man dissipated all too fast.

And he could barely explain why.

It was a slow night from then – and he wondered momentarily why he had come at all. Glimpses of the cerise haired woman in dazzling emerald today were few and far between, something that conflicted him greatly. On one hand, he _wanted_ to see her; she was perfectly tolerable to the eyes, he told himself. But he had absolutely no desire to see the thing still latched onto her arms (i.e. Neji).

And he wouldn't have remembered at all, had the nearby conversation of a flirting gold digger whore- er, beautiful socialite not drifted to his bored ears.

"Oh, Shio-san, you tease me so!" Cue over exaggerated giggle, and Sasuke needn't imagine the fluttering eyelids and fingers for him to know her actions – prayers knew how many times _that_ situation had presented itself to him. "Every girl would think first that 'p&p' is _Pride and Prejudice_! It's a girl's dream, no?" she paused, watching as Shio laughed heartily to her comment. "But I know now not to embarrass myself! From now on, p&p will forever be 'playboy and porn' in my mind," she added with a last laugh.

Sasuke tuned out Shio's booming laughter. It was only a moment later that he remembered the weathered, dog-eared copy of Pride and Prejudice still lying on his desk, lost against the volcanic mess of papers. He resigned himself to putting the pages in his car once he returned home – there seemed to be no pattern, no rule to when she would pop up in his life.

For the remainder of the night, unbeknownst to him, the thousand-watt scowl eased slightly from his face.

* * *

><p>The fourth time he saw her, he could hardly recognize her.<p>

Sasuke nearly recoiled with the shock of her appearance, but caught his facials just in time. Nothing alarming passed through his carefully filtered features, lest he offend her in some mundane way (_not that he cared of course. It was simply for formality's sake)_. Clearly, if nothing else could be deduced from the situation, it was that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.

"Sakura?" he ventured hesitantly.

A sniffle arose from the Sakura-esque being before she looked up. When her bleary emeralds met him, there was no denying her identity. But what the hell had happened to her?

"Oh. Sasuke-kun," she monotoned. "Hi."

"Are you okay?"

She shot him an incredulous look, as if silently asking if he was absolutely stupid. But to her credit she said nothing about it as she shrugged, "I've been better."

_Clearly_, Sasuke thought. He dropped down next to her on the ledge, and they lapsed into a comfortable silence then. Taking this opportunity, Sasuke _really_ studied her. It was true, she was an absolute mess. There were unseemly bags under her eyes that spoke of long, sleepless nights and her cheeks, which had held a healthy flush before, were barely there now. Evidently, she had skipped out on a few meals, if the hollow in her cheeks and accentuated cheekbones were any indication. There was also no trace of makeup on her face; though she had never worn much, Sasuke could tell that there was absolutely nothing artificial on her now. The effect was a tired girl, more tired than he had ever seen her, yet-

Yet, he _still _thought she was absolutely beautiful. She looked almost ethereal, sitting there, staring off into the distance.

Sasuke snapped out of his trance when she shivered, a chilly winter-spring breeze passing them by. Immediately, he shrugged out of his coat and draped it over her shoulders. At first, she looked as if she were about to protest, but the energy to do even that left her, and she only offered a quiet _thank you_.

At long last, she uttered a quiet, "How are you?"

Though he doubted she really cared about how _he_ was and conversation looked to be the last thing she needed at the moment, he indulged. "All right."

"You haven't changed a bit, have you?"

"People in general don't really change."

She laughed a little then, but it died as fast as it had arisen. "Sasuke-kun, surely, you don't think I'm still the same? You must be thinking, 'good god, what in heaven's has happened to this girl? She's an awful mess.'"

"Not quite in those words, no."

"You're just too nice, Sasuke-kun," she paused, tilting her head slightly. "You've _always_ been a super nice guy. You just hide it behind that tough façade of yours."

"How could you tell?" His tone was half-teasing, but he genuinely wanted to know why she sounded so _sure_.

"You're still here talking to me, aren't you? You, the successful, young millionaire, sitting by the roadside talking to a girl who looks as good as homeless. Now what does that tell you, Sasuke-kun?"

"You're not homeless, Sakura."

"I know that. You know that. The world doesn't."

"What _happened_ to you, Sakura? It's not like you to sound so pessimistic. That's _my_ role."

She shrugged softly. "Someone told me that this is what love does to you. If this is what love is, then I think it's awfully ugly."

Sasuke clenched his fists. _The Hyuuga did this to her?_

"But no," she continued. "I don't think this is _love_, thank god for that. For love to have done this, I would've had to be in love and be loved in return to begin with. This is something else entirely."

For the first time, she smiled somewhat genuinely up at him. Ironically, this concerned him more than anything else that had transpired between them already. It looked like it took so much effort on her part that she was ready to collapse.

Alarmed, he stood up. "Sakura. Let's go. And here, put this on." As he said this, he helped her shrug into the jacket sprawled like a shawl over her bony shoulders. When she made no effort to move, he grabbed her wrist and started to lead her away. She neither protested the action nor approved, but she walked with him nonetheless. They reached his car after a few minutes, and once they got in, Sasuke remembered her novel.

"Here," he said as he handed her the book. "You left this in the café last time."

She brightened considerably at the sight of it. "Oh! You grabbed it for me? I was so disheartened when I thought I'd lost it for good. It's a precious copy to me. Loads of sentimental value and all that jazz. Thanks, Sasuke-kun!"

She actually hugged the weathered book to her chest as she said this. Sasuke was simply glad that some of her usual liveliness returned.

"Where are we going, Sasuke-kun?"

He didn't answer for a while, weighing his words carefully. "Somewhere you can rest peacefully. After you do, _then_, we'll talk."

It turned out the place he was talking about was his very own apartment. It was a spacious loft, clean and crisp, black and white. Sakura was at a loss. At the look on her face, Sasuke shook his head.

"Don't worry. I don't mean anything more than to give you a place to just god damn _rest_. You look like you haven't slept for weeks. Clearly, where you usually sleep isn't working for you. I thought someplace foreign might do you some good."

The protest died on Sakura's tongue at his thoughtful words, and she could do no more than give him a thankful peck on his cheeks. He was gone before she could see his blush, but he reappeared within the minute with a t-shirt and shorts for her. "Here, shower, then take a nice, long rest."

She followed the direction that he pointed her in, and as soon as she disappeared from his sight, a tiny, tiny real smile blossomed on her face.

She had been right about him all along.

* * *

><p>In the end, she ended up sleeping for fourteen hours straight.<p>

When she woke up again, bleary and unfocused, she had thought that it was only 9pm the same day. When she walked over to open his industrial blinds, she was shocked by the bright morning sun that streamed in, and she could only smile in exasperation. Sasuke had been right. Sakura hadn't felt this well rested in weeks. With a blush, she recalled that she'd fallen asleep tangled in the bed sheets that smelled like Sasuke, and she was sure he'd also been in her dreams, all reassurance.

It was then that she smelled the delicious scent of breakfast. Enticed, she left his room in favour of the kitchen, and was surprised by the scene that met her. There Sasuke was, clad in pyjama pants and a t-shirt, frying eggs like a master chef.

Sakura giggled despite herself and made her way towards him.

"I didn't know you could cook."

He seemed to notice her for the first time. "You're awake. How did you sleep?"

"Like I've never slept before in my life," softly, she added. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

"Good. Do you eat eggs?"

"Love them!"

In one smooth movement, he transferred the contents of the pan onto two plates and brought them over to the table. Sakura followed him and for a while, a comfortable silence lapped over them. The curiosity was nearly coming off him in waves, though, and after a few bites, Sakura leaned back.

"So, Sasuke-kun. You're curious."

He nodded slowly. "What happened? _Who did this to you_?"

"I did this to myself, probably," she mused. "In any case, do you remember how I was dating Neji?"

Sasuke noted the past tense. "Yes."

"Well, we weren't _really_ dating, per say. He was a really good friend. One of my closest, after Naruto. Well, a little more than a year ago, he came to me and asked a favour of me."

"I just had to be his pretend girl friend for a while as he worked out the things with his family. He was already in love with someone else at that point."

Sasuke looked confused. "But why did he need you?"

"Oh, you know his family. Big and complicated. Well, they already know me and approve of me and everything. Neji dear had this whole thing planned out. There's really no need for me to cover the logistics, but basically, with me involved, the plan was for him to finally be able to be with her."

"But you fell for him," Sasuke deadpanned.

"Oh, nothing as romantic as that," Sakura replied easily. "He's like a brother to me." She paused as she considered her next words. "Now that I think about it, I've been awfully pathetic. If you think so, too, Sasuke-kun, you should say so."

"Pathetic? No."

"Well you _will_, in a moment, after I finish. The thing is, I haven't really been hurt by heartache. Now that I really think about it, I've just been left with a really horrid case of abandonment."

"He left you?"

"Of course, as planned. But as soon as everything worked out, I suddenly realized how absolutely good he's been to me. Without his constant presence and caring in my life, I suddenly felt so incredibly alone." She laughed then at herself. "Oh god, look at me. I've been running around like a heart broken girl when my heart hasn't even been touched."

Sasuke was silent for a long while. "It's a horrible feeling, being alone."

"You understand, don't you, Sasuke-kun?"

He seemed like he didn't hear, but Sakura could see the agreement written clearly across his person. This was a feeling that couldn't be accurately communicated in words, and it was enough that they both understood this simple concept.

Suddenly, looking at him, Sakura was hit with a wonderful feeling. The emptiness that had filled her for the past few weeks was gone, replaced by a warmth that radiated from her very core.

This warmth, she knew, was Sasuke.

* * *

><p><em>Four months later.<em>

"Sasuke-kun!" she called out from their bedroom. "Where on earth is my white tank top?"

"How the hell should I know? Your shit is everywhere!"

"Hey! Don't call my shit _shit_!"

"You just called it shit!" Sasuke said as he appeared through the doorway. True to his words, Sakura's things were everywhere. His previously neat and prim apartment had been reduced to her _habitat_. Her clothes were strewn all over their unmade bed, and bits and pieces of her lingerie were dangling in odd places all over the room.

"Oops," she said as she picked up the offending object from the bed. "My bad, it was here all along!"

"Clean up your things once in a while, won't you?"

She scurried up to him and threw her arms around his neck, cozying against him. "Aww, but you love me just the way I am, don't you, Sasuke-kun?"

He grumbled something incoherent in reply. She stopped his mumbling by placing her lips against his, offering him a quick and sweet kiss as compensation. "I love _you_ just like this, my awkward and adorable Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke looked slightly green at being called 'awkward and adorable', but the little nymph in his arms had his thoughts otherwise occupied. She was clad only in her bra and panties, Sasuke realized a little belatedly. Once realized, though, it was a thought that couldn't be left untended for. She was looking up at him with large, innocent doe eyes. It was an expression that was irresistible to him, and it made him just want to taste her, devour her.

Sasuke wasted not a moment more as he crushed his lips against hers with none of the sweetness she'd offered. He was all urgency and desire as one hand moved to unhook her bra and the other to remove her panties. Somehow, her nimble hands had also worked to remove his own shirt and pants, and they were tumbling on the bed, a mess of tangled limbs and passions.

As they lost each other to their throes of lust and love, there was only one essence of certainty that hung in the air between them, forever and forever present.

They would both never again feel that empty, hollow thing called _loneliness_.

* * *

><p><em>fin<em>

* * *

><p><em>tiny little note:<em> sasusaku is really out of my element, but i was in the mood to try something different. next up will probably be part 3/3 of the kakasaku ;) review if you enjoyed! it truly makes my day.


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